The finest in newspaper recipes, plus the history behind food reporting

How many people actually settle down at home with their copy of the Sunday Times and say, “Ah, yes, this will be a fine supper?”

Apparently the recipe we’re attempting tonight was originally intended for college students. It was printed on Oct. 27, 2004 in the L.A. Times. After you see the steps involved, I wonder if you will emerge as skeptical of its intended chefs as I did.

Now, it’s entirely possible that as an undergraduate who stayed on campus all four years, my college cooking skills were irreversibly stunted and I am operating on that bias. However, I wish more than anything that I could see the photo of the two USC students that originally accompanied this story.

Christy Hedges describes her son and his roommates this way in her article, “Grill your way through college”:

Oh, brave young homesteader. You are not a newlywed, and no one has yet showered you with Cuisinarts, cookbooks or china. You can make a sandwich or a salad, but that’s about it.

That’s the situation my son recently found himself in. He’s a sophomore at USC, living in an apartment off-campus with two roommates. They love to eat, and have palates more worldly than mine was when I was in college.

“Get a grill pan,” I told him. “It’s like grilling outside; you even get nice grill marks.”

He and his roommates loved the idea. But they needed recipes. And they needed me to walk them through it all.

Who are these young men who have set aside an evening to infuse a cheap cut of steak “with the flavors of chile, sesame oil, garlic, ginger and citrus”? I have put in a request with the Times Company to see the pictures of these diligent young men, because the pictures aren’t included on ProQuest and we don’t have the L.A. Times microfiche on file at the Seattle Public Library. I’ll update you as I learn more.

My photo request, which will hopefully allow me to eventually show, “The writer’s son, Duncan Hedges, left, and his roommate Kevin Kawachi prepar[ing] marinated flank steak salad. The easy-to-make dish also includes grilled asparagus.” As well as “Hedges grill[ing] the steak after it is infused with the flavors of chile, sesame oil, garlic, ginger and citrus.”

I don’t just have trouble picturing people tackling complex recipes when I’m envisioning 20-somethings. After all, one of my big projects for my Christmas visit home is to go through all the recipes Mom cut out and filed away in big manila envelopes. She’s found a few gems throughout the years, but I would have expected a bit more from a stack that reaches close to two feet high.

Food writers have always walked the dangerous lines between journalism, art, and their role as handmaiden to advertising. But we have not wobbled quite so regularly in nearly a half century as we do today. Food has carried us into the vortex of cool. There, the urge to become part of the story is stronger than the duty to detach and observe and report the story.

O’Neill also wants to know, “Who’s cooking this stuff?”

At a book signing, O’Neill’s mom finally tackles the tenderly roasted and stuffed elephant in the room:

“Do you actually cook that stuff?” [she asks.]

“Of course not,” replied the customer, who looked like my mother, tall, lean, with a white cap of stylishly coiffed hair. “Every week I cut them out of the magazine and promise myself I will cook them. Don’t we all?”

Toby and I decided to join the brave few who actually tested our clippings. We printed up the “simple” recipe (the ingredients list barely fit on a typed page) and gave ourselves the one hour(!!!) prep time suggested.

Care to try? Here’s how you, too, can make a marinated flank steak salad.

1. Mix the sesame oil, soy sauce, lime juice, orange juice, lime zest, orange zest, garlic, ginger and minced chile to make a marinade. Put the flank steak in a large resealable plastic bag and pour the marinade over the top. Close the bag and refrigerate for about 1 hour.

1. Wash and trim the asparagus. Brush with the peanut oil and season with salt and pepper. Heat a seasoned grill pan over medium- high heat. Grill the asparagus, rolling them to cook all sides until they are just tender, about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.

2. Remove the steak from the marinade and grill for approximately 6 minutes on each side until medium rare. Let rest for about 5 minutes and slice very thinly on the bias against the grain.

3. Put the arugula, tomatoes and onions in a large bowl. Add the asparagus. Pour dressing over the salad and gently mix to coat. Arrange the steak slices on top.

Interesting blog. I started sharing recipes, etc. in April ’07. I have plans on writing a column in the local newspaper that has the weekly specials and then gives shopping lists, menu plans, etc. The recipes are on my blog. I am currently testing this concept. I would be honored to have you visit and let me know what you think.

[…] Just an ordinary guy Before we left for Michigan, Toby and I made our trip to UW to scrounge through the L.A. Times microfiche. We were on a quest to satisfy my inexplicable curiosity with what sort of students would undertake a marinated flank steak salad. […]